One woman's journey from living room to law school with one husband and three kids in tow.

Friday, December 1, 2006

Week Rounded Out - Holiday Edition

Can you believe it's December 1st? Only twenty-five more shopping days until Christmas if, you know, you're into that sort of thing. The older I get, the less stuff I need for Christmas and the less stuff I buy.

The breaking point for me came about five years ago when Lizzie - faced with a mountain of gifts taller than her - just started opening things and tossing them aside. Open. Toss. Open. Toss. This went on until she had decimated the entire pile. She took one look at her spoils, then went off to play with a ratty old bunny. She didn't care a whit for the things she got. So, that day, I vowed that Christmas in our house would no longer be about "stuff" but about traditions. You know, the way it was back when the middle-class didn't exist.

Last weekend, we enjoyed switching on the holidays in Downtown Boulder. This weekend, we will head west for a traditional Christmas experience. I'd love to go snowshoeing, too. But, we'll have to see how everyone feels.::Another traditional December event for us is the mad rush to use every last cent of our health benefits. I was fitted for new contacts today while enjoying a pleasant banter with Eye Guy about why his team (Nebraska) sucks eggs and why my team (Colorado) sucks, too, but in a good, less egg-y way.

My annual exam, also known as my date with the duck, is out of the way. So, dental is all that's left. We're only allowed a cleaning every six months, so I've lost that benefit, but you can be sure I will squeeze in at least one cleaning before St. Nick lands at our house. The girls are mostly set. They still need their other cleaning - totally doable in our time frame - and they're good to go. ::And, lastly, I really need to get a handle on our finances. According to our Quicken reports, we're leading a comfortable middle-class lifestyle but I'm just not feeling it. I never thought I would say this but I cannot wait for tax season, which for us is early February. Between selling a home, buying another home and paying approximately forty-thousand dollars in law school tuition (plus some childcare and business expenses), we should be getting a FAT refund. Who needs Christmas? Tax season is the most wonderful time of the year.